The student tuition increase crisis highlights how the education model is financially broken.

I usually come away from our NineShift seminars more optimistic than before, but after our seminar last month with community college presidents I came away terrified.

The model is based on a growing dependency on student tuition. And student tuition is based on loans and debt of the entire Gen Y generation. While Boomers gratuitously vey against "mortgaging our children's future" we do it without shame in reality.

My hope is that Gen Y will just refuse to pay the loans back.

Photo: our local university student newspaper almost never covers national news, but they did with this student tuition story, illustrating how important it is to Gen Y.

The 2009 Minnesota Teacher of the Year was fired. Schools fire (lay off) many of their best teachers. They keep many of their worst teachers.

Eight years earlier, Amber Damm was laid off following her first year of teaching. For the good of all, she did not give up and got another job. The same thing happened to the 1990 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, according to an article by Chris Stewart and Charlie Weaver in the St. Paul Pioneer Press last week.

Teachers not only make a difference, the make THE difference. The New Teacher Project found that sutdents wyho have had an ineffective teacher make 2.5 to 3.5 months less progress in a school year than students who have had even an average teacher. The good news: Teacher accountability is coming.

The latest from "on the ground" is that people are enthusiastic about the recall of Gov. Scott Walker.

In our small town, there's already one office set up by the Democrats. And we predict another office to open soon. Gov. Walker has the FBI investigating him; news about his budget deficit won't help; the negative job creation contradicts his campaign pledge; there's just nothing working in his favor now.

The biggest news is that the Wisconsin effort against going back to the last century is having a national impact as the Tea Party has stalled. The next phase: decline, which should start in 2013 regardless of who wins the Presidency.

Photo: Even in rural Wisconsin, recall signs are up. NineShift original photo by Doyle Darvis.

America was building trains, the answer to both high gas prices and saving the environment. Oh, and getting there faster.

But the Tea Party has stalled the building of new trains, even though train ridership continues to set records. Aside: so how can they stop Gen Y from riding trains?

In the 2008 gas price crisis, people took to light rail and trains and big plans were made to build more light rail and trains. Light rail is still being planned and built, although on a much smaller scale. But few if any new train lines are being planned or built due to Republican opposition.

So that leaves suburban based car loving Americans in the 2012 gas crisis with no options, except of course to vote out the anti-train politicians and start planning and building trains again. Which will happen - - not soon enough.

This week's prediction: increasing gas prices, expected to set records this spring, will lead to further light rail ridership records.

People are already taking light rail, setting records in many cities right now. Google "light rail ridership" and see for yourself.

And the record light rail ridership will encourage local officials to plan for more light rail lines. With the economy recovering, more cities will "dare" to plan for light rail expansion. What do you think?

Photo: Me celebrating $4 gas in 2008.Am buying hats now for $4.50 party

Just wondering if you are getting different web pages when you go online. Let us know what you think.

Here's my story (what's yours?). So I go to Delta.com to check out a flight. On Monday, the flights are around $500 through Atlanta to my destination to Savannah. The next day there are NO, Zero, flights appearing through Atlanta and most flights through New York (air traveler's nightmare) at double the price, more than $800. My travel agent however finds a flight for $400 through Atlanta and I book it.

My brilliant co-author Julie says when she Googles "Egypt" she gets demonstrations and when her wealthy world traveling sister Googles "Egypt" she gets tourism sites. What do you think? Something fishy going on with search?

Since we have tried to find out who buys cars many years ago, the auto industry did not publicly reveal the data. But now J.D. Power and Associates has made the info public.

The info confirms NineShift info that cars are in decline. The average age of new car buyers has jumped to 55. That means half of all new car buyers are over age 55. As one story puts it, the "AARP generation" are buying over sixty percent of new cars.

The data confirms driving data from DOT. And yet, auto industry folks and most older Americans "drink the Kool Aid" and think cars are on the rebound. Photo: boy with toy train in restaurant NineShift visited this month.